Stéphane Lafleur?s first feature film Continental:  un film sans fusil mesmorized a Scotiabank audience Monday night.  The simple, loosely intertwined stories of several Quebecers are told with a nuance and soft and steady visual style that initially made it difficult for programmer Marguerite Pigott to believe it was Lafleur?s first feature.

?It was almost incromprehensible to us that this was a first feature film.  The aesthetic was so mature, the direction of the actors so distinctive and fresh, the writing has such discipline and complexity.  It?s quite exceptional.  Many films have great style and some films have great humanity, few films have both, this is one of those films.?

Lafleur got things started with a joke:  ?It?s been a really long ride since my first short in the festival in 1999.  I know there?s Bourne playing in the next room, so I hope that all the guns won?t come here.?

That?s a reference to the sans fusil portion of the title, which means, ?without guns?.  It?s an interesting choice, considering the film deals with issues like loneliness, aging and social isolation.  ?Since we?re living in a still-peaceful country it was a way to position these really intimate stories in a larger context.  Also it was sort of a little joke about all these films using guns.  There are some films using guns in a good way, but some just do it to add a dramatic element.?

Here are some moments from the Q and A:

Audience Member:  I really loved your use of sound in the film, could you discuss it?

SL:  I really wanted sound to be a big part of the film.  There?s not a lot of music in the film.  I wanted to use the environment sounds we hear everyday, like a buzzing fridge, to create a kind of soundtrack with these things.  It was important, there was a lot of stuff about sound in the script.  I wanted to offer the audience some freedom in the film, to participate in the film.  So using a steady camera leaves it up to the audience to decide what is outside the frame. 

Marguerite Pigott:  I wanted to ask about the evolution of the scipt.  There are a number of separate stories, and all of them are building and arching at the same time.  How did you develop the scipt?

SL:  I kind of write in a really messy way.  It has no structure and no technique.  I just collect ideas, images I would like to film.  I had the first scene for several years ? a guy in a bus goes into the forrest ? then the other characters came, his wife of course.  We thought it was a good idea for our first feature to do four stories because it would be like four little shorts.  I thought it would be easy but I was totally wrong it was awful.  It was difficult writing the scipt and difficult editing too.

Marguerite:  I?m curious about what?s on the cutting room floor? 

SL:  There were more characters in the film.  Secondary roles.  I found that we didn?t need them exactly, we had to focus on these four people.

Marguerite:  I wanted to ask about the shooting of the film, because the camera is so still, so elegant and so formal.  Even though the lines are so formal, there?s such messy humanity inside them.  So I wanted to ask you about your relationship with your DOP?

SL:  It was her first film too.  We had a really creative energy.  We had a lot of enthusiasm shooting this project.  When I wrote the script I knew what I wanted for the frame.  So we found locations to serve these ideas.  The work she did with the light was incredible, she?s like a magician.  I knew what I wanted but I have no talent for photography so she did everything. 

Audience Member: I want to know what happened in the forrest.

SL:  It?s a good question, but I won?t answer it.  I feel that in life we?re always looking for answers, there?s no good answer for what?s going on in the forrest.  Your answer is probably better than mine.  I think it?s important to trust ourselves when we look at a piece of art. 

Audience Member: Why did you choose the title?